56 flights to Mumbai diverted, main runway to stay shut till 2pm

Airlines informed passengers about cancellations of morning flights in advance and this reduced crowds at the terminals.

The airport said 56 flights were diverted to locations such as Goa, Bengaluru and Hyderabad on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.(Picture for representation)

Flight operations at Mumbai airport continue to be affected, with the main runway remaining closed and adverse weather slowing operations on the secondary runway.

The airport said 56 flights were diverted to locations such as Goa, Bengaluru and Hyderabad on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. Airlines informed passengers about cancellations of morning flights in advance and this reduced crowds at the terminals.

After the wind pattern improved after midnight, the first flight departed using secondary runway at 12:30am. The first arrival was at 1:30am. The SpiceJet aircraft that overshot the runway last night is still stranded and work is on to move it away.

A revised notice issued to airmen estimates main runway closure to be extended till 2pm today. Visibility as of 7.10am at the airport was 1600 metres - 600 metres is ideal - with winds of 12 knots.

AS

“The disabled aircraft recovery kit from Air India is at site and preparation of pavement underneath the aircraft is in progress,” said an airport official.

“We are experiencing heavy rainfall and bad tail winds at CSIA. Fights are taking off and landing from the secondary runway as the main runway has been closed for operations. There are delays in arrival and departure flights because of the fluctuating weather,” said Mumbai airport spokesperson.

Jet Airways flight 9W 537 (Dubai- Mumbai) that was to land Mumbai at around 11.10pm last night was stuck at Bengaluru airport. A passenger said, “We have been asking the airline to complete immigration formalities and let us go to the city but this is not happening. We are stuck here since night and the airline has told us that we would not be taking off before 4pm today.”

Mumbai-bound Air India flight AI 191 from Delhi, departed at night but landed in Hyderabad. It was brought back to Delhi. Air India Spokesperson Dhananjay Kumar said, “Due to bad weather in Mumbai the landing of aircraft is prohibited because of this, AI191 did not get permission to land in Mumbai hence it is diverted to Hyderabad. We tried our best to get the permission to land in Mumbai but did not succeed. So AI 191 was further diverted to Delhi.” Around 20 Air India flights are affected due to bad weather in the city.